Dear Editor:
The most recent Presidential Paper Historical Series article on Oct. 27th showing how the Hoover administration changed
immigration policy by fiat is instructive, but, as always, some background
will help.
In the first month of his administration (March 1929)
Hoover proclaimed the national origin quotas as required by law. In an
accompanying statement he stated his opposition to national origins -
Hoover knew enough statistics to know how shaky its empirical base was -
but noted that he was "strongly in favor of restricted and selected
immigration."
In December, 1929 - after the crash but before the depression Hoover
declared that restriction of immigration had proved "a sound national
policy." But, in typical progressive fashion, he still maintained that it
ought to be possible to find "a method by which the limited number of
immi­grants whom we do welcome" suit "our national needs." A year later
however, Hoover told Congress that:
"There is a need for revision of our immigration laws upon a
more limited and more selective basis, flexible to the needs
of the country." Under the impact of the beginnings of the Great Depression, the President had determined that national
needs dictated far fewer immigrants. "Under conditions of current unemployment it is obvious that persons
coming to the United States seeking work would likely become either direct
or indirect public charges. As a temporary measure the officers issuing
visas to immigrants have been...instructed to refuse visas to applicants
likely to fall into this class. As a result the visas issued have
decreased from an average of about 24,000 a month prior to restrictions to
a rate of about 7,000 during the last month. These are largely preferred
persons under the law. Visas from Mexico are about 250 per month compared
to about 4,000 previous to restrictions. The whole subject requires
exhaustive reconsideration."
In December 1931, almost 9 months after the document under discussion, he recommended to Congress that these administrative restrictions "be placed upon a more definite
basis by law," that deportation laws be strengthened and that all aliens in
the country be forced to carry residence certificates, a form of internal
passport. These proposals were not acted on by Congress. In his final
annual message, the defeated president had nothing further to recommend
about immigration, but during the 1932 campaign he had taken credit for "rigidly restricted immigration."
Thus, with the kind of creative reinterpretation of the law usually
credited to his immediate successor, Hoover completely changed the meaning
of the "l.p.c. clause." In 1882 the original phrase had been "paupers or
persons likely to become a public charge" and the intent had been to
exclude, not poor persons, but persons incapable of supporting themselves.
But Hoover's claim of credit was misleading. The new administrative
interpretation of the "l.p.c. clause" had actually begun at the tail end of
the Coolidge administration. As early as September 1928 the State
Department instructed American consular officials in Mexico to apply
standards more stringently. Hoover's directive gave consular officials
enormous latitude, which some used with murderous effect a few years
later. The new interpretation of the old clause was eventually stretched
so that many consuls were able to require immigrants either to have
substantial assets in their possession or a sponsor in the US who would file an affidavit attesting a willingness to support the
immigrant if necessary and an ability to do so.

Roger Daniels, Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emeritus of History
University of Cincinnati